Hindsight: A Novel of the Class of 1972

by Barbara Rogan

Book Overview

The New York Times calls Barbara Rogan "a passionate writer whose prose is as vivid as lightning bolts." Now she delivers a mesmerizing tale of a long-hidden betrayal -- and its deadly repercussions.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743205995
• ISBN13: 9780743205993
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

More like 3 1/2 stars...

Ok, though I really did enjoy this book, something about it is holding me back from saying it's a four star read, however three stars doesn't seem deserving enough. I picked this book up because the premise sounded really different and interesting, which it was...and curiosity kept me reading, but I think it was how quickly the ending was wrapped up that turned me off a bit. Nine friends stand on Beacon Hill in June of 1972, graduation day, and make a drunken promise to meet back there in 20 years for a reunion, no matter what. Well, skip now to 1992, Willa Durrell, while promoting her new book, runs into Patrick, one of the guys from the old gang, and the pair team up to get ahold of everyone to remind them about the upcoming reunion. As the two of them slowly start finding the rest of the group (who are all as different as night and day) one person cannot be found, Angel Busky. What happened in the days after graduation that no one seems to want to talk about? Did Angel really run away like everyone's though for the last 20 years, or did something awful happen to her? As the night of the reunion draws nearer, tensions run high. They've all grown up and most have made something of themselves. Willa refuses to stop until she finds out what happened to her friend. Then one of them dies under suspicious circumstances at the reunion party. Willa finds she's now in a dangerous position as one of their own is trying to keep the past quiet. Though this book was suspenseful enough, the ending disappointed me only in how quickly everything was wrapped up. Other than that...a really good book. I was completely surprised with who the culprit turned out to be, I thought I had it figured out halfway through the book, but not at all! If you enjoy mysteries, then overall I recommend this read. Not at all a bad way to past the time.

Reunions Can Be Deadly

Yeaarly across the world, people attend reunions. Some are for large and extended families, others may be for a group of people who served in the armed forces or simply a group of fiends who haven't seen each other in some time. Probably the most popular reunion is for a high school or university class years after the attendees graduated. With this subject in mind, Barbara Rogan has written a good suspense book, Hindsight. In 1972, during their graduation ceremony, several friends and graduates sit on a hill and watch the proceedings. From very different backgrounds and with very different plans for their futures, these students have boycotted the ceremonies when one of their friends wasn't allowed to attend the festivities. Before they part company that day, they make a vow to return to the hill in 20 years precisely June, 1992. The years fly by and almost none of the gang have had anything to do with one another. Willa, is now a famous author and widow with a teen age daughter. During the winter of 1992, she is at a book signing in Manhattan when she runs into Patrick, a professor at New York University and one of the old high school gang. He has followed her writing career and expesses his sorrow at the loss of her prestigious husband. Then the talk turns to thier reunion pact and Patrick is very enthusiastic to find each memebr of the gang and spend the day in June together. Will hires a privare detective and one by one the members are found except for bad girl, Angel Busky. Attmept are made by Willa and Patrtick to find out what happened to Angel when she disappeared the night of gradutaion but even trying to contact her father and others who knew her proves futile. It seem as though Angel just vanished into thin air. Then as Willa and Patrick contact their former friends, it seems as though time and distance has not been as kind to all of them. While some have achieved their goals, some habe met with frustration and disappointment and wonder if they even want ot see the old gang ever again. And then they will need to address what happened to Angel as if they can solve this 20 year old mystery. As the friends do gather at Willa's house in June, not far from their meeting place, one can sense that all is not right with the group. There are already hostitlies, recriminations and a sense of evil pervading the surroundings. And then when one of the friends turns up dead, the others wonder if this has happened before or again. And at the very worst, is there a killer amongst them? This was a good read although I felt as though the characters were caricatures of high school friends with rich, smart kids mixed in with bad, wrong side of the track students. By the end I thought it was rather obvious what happened to Angel all those years before. The book, which was a fast and easy read, did leave left me wondering how anybody could get away with crimes like these unless its that it makes for suspenseful reading. And finall

With Hindsight I Would have Read This Masterpiece Earlier

This is one of the best thrillers I have ever read. This is better than Koontz novels, Patterson or any other spinechilling master authors. This is one of those books where you hope that nothing good is on television after you have started it because you do not want to put it down until the final page. Full of twists and surprises you will not be disappointed, get this book. This is a superb literacy masterpiece about a group of friends who in their high school days(1972) were the closest of friends. They did not fit into the normal American stereotype groups so bonded to each other. The two best looking girls in the school were amongst them as were the guys no one wanted to mess with. Teachers hated them, they loved and were always there for each other.It is no longer 1972 however, 20 years has almost passed and they have all moved on with their lives, some are famous or successful, others not so much. They made a drunken pact on Beacon Hill while watching the rest of their grade graduate, that they would meet again twenty years later no matter what. Now some have kids almost the same age they were back then, no one has kept in contact. Willa is a famous author now and one of her classmates approaches her at a book signing. They both remember the pact but will the others? Willa decides, along with Patrick that they should contact the others to remind them and to their surprise everyone remembers the pact and was wondering if the others do as well. Everyone that is except for Caleb and Angel who cannot be found. Willa approaches her private eye friend to find them and organises the reunion for her house. There are reasons though why some people can not be found. Sometimes they don't want to, sometimes they had no choice. One of the group knows all the answers but does not want the rest to know their evil secret. They will turn up to the reunion, after all, they do have a few days to kill!

Great Suspense

When friends from high school reunite after 20 years, it gives new meaning to the phrase "You can't go home again." A masterful work of suspense, full of red herrings and plot twists to keep you guessing until the very end. Unlike many novels of the suspense genre, Rogan fully develops Willa's character and her relationship with her daughter, Chloe. Can't wait to read her next one.

masterful work of suspense

On the night of their graduation in June of 1972, a group of students, nine in all, watch the proceedings from their hangout in Beacon hill. The tenth member of their group is the valedictorian. After the ceremonies the group vows to have a reunion twenty years from that date.In January of 1992, Willa is in Manhattan doing a book signing when she sees Patrick for the first time in twenty years. He's a professor at NYU and wants to help her find the old gang for the promised reunion. They search out and find seven members of the group but nobody has seen or heard from Angel since the decade they graduated. Will hires a detective to track her down but it's as if she disappeared off the face of the earth. At the reunion, there's an undercurrent of tension in when one of the guests winds of dead. The police think it is linked to Angela's disappearance two decades ago.HINDSIGHT is a masterful work of suspense filled with characters that are very different than the way Willa remembered them. Far different from THE BIG CHILL, the protagonist's growing fears clue the audience that one of the old gang is a killer. Barbara Rogan is a talented storyteller who keeps the tension at a high level and leaves the audience wondering what is really going on.Harriet Klausner